


I'll be there (for you)

by gendrybeesly



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Friends (TV), Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: AxG Week, Basically just a mondler au, Modern Westeros, robb is phoebe because I make the rules
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-07-31 01:48:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20107177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gendrybeesly/pseuds/gendrybeesly
Summary: "There's a nuclear holocaust, I'm the last man on Earth. Would you go out with me?""Meh"Basically the gendrya mondler au no one asked for.





	1. the one in eastwatch

**Author's Note:**

> ”You were the most beautiful woman in the room tonight”
> 
> ”Really?”
> 
> ”Are you kidding you’re the most beautiful woman in most rooms”

In the event hall at Eastwatch Hotel, Arya and Gendry sat at one of the round tables scattered around the room, watching as Ned attempted to negotiate wedding payments with a burly looking Wilding man, who Arya presumed was Jon’s fiancée Ygritte’s father.

“So how are you doing?” Gendry turned to her, still deflated from his day touring the city with an overly-enthusiastic Theon.

“My mother is driving me crazy, Jon is getting married and I’m happy, I’m not going to let anything spoil that.” she sighed with a small smile.

Just then, a man with fiery red hair and a beard twisted with plaits stumbled over to them, clutching a pint of beer, “I just want to say that Jon is a great man- hiccup- bloody hell, you must have been a teenager when you had him!” 

Before Arya could form a response, the man caught sight of a tall blonde woman and darted off in her direction. 

“Unbelievable-“ she spat out, rose from her seat and stormed out of the room.

,,,

Gendry jogged to keep up with Arya, who over the years had ranted to him about how every one of her family members compared her to beautiful Lyanna, her father’s friend from school and Jon’s mother who had died in childbirth, so he could already tell how the red haired man’s drunken comments would have riled her.

“Arya! The guy was hammered okay, there’s no way that you look that much like Jon’s mother” he called out to her.

“Then why would he say it?” she turned swiftly colliding with his chest, not moving back.

“Because he’s crazy! Okay earlier he came up to me and thanked me for my very moving performance in titanic!” he lied, although someone had told him that he looked vaguely like Leo DiCaprio once.

“Well my mother’s right, im never gonna get married…” she sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Look that is- who wouldn’t want you?” he pulled her into his embrace and stroked the small of her back, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo.

“Oh please I’m a single mum with a thirty year old son!” she drew back from the hug, but cracked a small smile.

“Listen I’m going to go get a drink okay? I’ll see you in a bit” she said, walking back towards the bar.

“See you later gorgeous” he replied, out of her earshot as she rounded the corner.

,,,

Arya sat at the hotel bar, with a rum and coke in front of her. She twirled the short straw around aimlessly in the glass, watching Theon chat up a bridesmaid at the other end of the bar. Working the dating scene always baffled her, watching her friends go on date after date and being so confident the whole time about not settling down. 

When she was younger being single never really bothered Arya, she was very happy to go her own way and leave Sansa to the whole relationship business, but she was a woman now. A woman with needs and urges, what’s so bad about looking at your best friend and wanting to rip their clothes off anyway? Who could blame her with Gendry working at the garage, coming home covered in grease and sweat? It doesn’t help that his apartment is opposite her and Sansa’s with his being smaller than hers, the whole gang find themselves congregating at either place on a regular basis.

Feeling impulsive and a little bit tipsy, Arya made her way to the elevator, and somehow managed to press the button for his floor, and got all the way to outside his room, fumbling at her heels to relieve the ache in her feet. 

She knocked on his door a few times and leaned against the frame, a muffled “be right there” coming from inside the room and padded footsteps getting closer until the door swung open to reveal Gendry, wrapped in a white fluffy robe, his hair wet and stuck to his forehead.

,,,

Stepping out of the steamy bathroom, Gendry heard a knocking at his door as he fiddled at his watch strap to put it back on, “Be right there!” he called out to the late night visitor and quickly pulled the nearest item of clothing on, a white dressing gown from the back of the door. Tying a loose knot at the waistband, he opened the door to find Arya leant against the doorframe, clutching her shoes and grinning at him.

“Hey!” he stepped aside, letting her enter the room and closing the door behind her. When he turned back, she propped herself up on the dresser, chucked her shoes to the floor and was eyeing him up and down.

“New pjs, you’re really living it up here huh?” she said with her brows raised. 

“Well- I wasn’t exactly expecting company after,” he looked to his watch, “...9:15” she laughed again. Gendry had become pretty good at that over the years, making her laugh intentionally or otherwise.

“You’re not still upset about what that guy told you right?” he questioned, knowing how she lets things play on her mind.

“Would you be?” she replied, tilting her head to one side and looking at the floor.

“Well look, it’s been a really emotional time you know and you’ve had a lot to drink. You’ve just gotta let that go okay. I mean, you were the most beautiful woman in the room tonight!” he walked towards her slowly, stopping as he reached the cabinet.

She looked up at him, her eyes glistening, “Really?”

“Are you kidding? You’re the most beautiful woman in most rooms!” he trailed, still holding her gaze. She paused for a moment, her eyes flicking down to his mouth as he licked his lips nervously. 

“Arya I-” she pulled him towards her and crashed their lips together, slipping off the chest of drawers and wrapping her arms around his neck. He didnt hesitate to kiss her back, almost as if it happened on instinct. But after a second his thoughts kicked back in and he pulled away, breathless.

“Woah woah what’s going on, you and I just made out. You and I are making out?” 

“Well not anymore!” she retorted

“But we don’t do that!”

“I know I just thought it would be fun…” her face began to blush, so he moved towards her again.

“How drunk are you?” she started to make her way toward him also, which made his heart beat even faster.

“Drunk enough that I know I want to do this, not so drunk that you should feel guilty about taking advantage” she babbled back at him, playing with her hair.

“That’s the perfect amount!” they collided again, walking together back to the bed where she pushed him down to sit on his lap.

“You know what’s weird” she questioned, in between kisses.

“What?”

“This doesn’t feel weird” she stilled for a second, bringing her hand to his forehead to push back the hair from his face

“I know” he gazed back at her, still not quite believing what was actually happening as she moved to kiss his neck, sending a shiver straight down his back.

“You’re a really good kisser” she mumbled into his neck, with a hint of surprise in her tone. 

“Well, I have kissed over four women” Arya pulled back, smiling softly again at his response.

“You wanna get under the covers?” she waggled her eyebrows, breathy heavy on top of him. 

“Okay” 

Quickly, they moved from their position to each side of the large bed, and dove under the covers. Eyes locked as he disrobed and threw it away from him, her dress and underwear joining it in a heap next to her shoes.

He felt her frantic movements stop as he grabbed a towel from the side table and ruffled it over his damp hair.

“Wow you are really, eager”

“It bodes well for me that you’re so bloody observant”, he chuckled, and finished quickly towel drying his hair.

“We’re gonna see each other naked” she exclaimed, bunching the sheets in her fists where they lay covering her chest.

“Yep, you wanna do it at the same time?”

“Count of three?”

“One, two, three”

The two lifted the covers in unison, and Gendry let his eyes wander all over Arya’s petite frame as she did the same to him. The curve of her chest rising and falling with her deep breaths, her hips drifting outward slightly from her small waist. Satisfied with what they had seen, they pulled the sheet back over them.

“Well I think it’s safe to say that our friendship is effectively ruined!” he blurted, licking his lips again as they locked eyes again

“Ehh, fuck it” she shrugged and moved swiftly to straddle his waist, he rose to meet her and sat against the headboard, bringing her in again for a kiss.

,,,

A harsh knock at Gendry’s door woke Arya from her slumber, where she found herself in the arms of her very naked friend. She shook him awake as the knocking continued, and pulled the sheets over her head “make the noise stop” she grumbled, and felt his arm move from underneath her when the knocking stopped and was replaced with the sound of her brother’s voice calling from outside the hotel room. 

“Gendry for fucks sake get up, I’m coming in!” Jon hollered, surely waking up the surely waking up the rest of the corridor in the process. 

“Stay under there” he whispered to her, resting his arm over where her face was smushed uncomfortably into his side. Arya heard the door swing open.

“I’m getting married today!” Jon cheered, the sound of his feet shuffling across the carpet suggesting he was doing Gendry's infamous happy dance.

“Morning Jon”

“I’m getting married to-day!”

“Yeah ya are!” Gendry retorted.

“Woo hoo!” Jon’s shuffling stopped and the hard shutting of the door was enough to indicate to Arya that he had left, and she was free to come out of hiding.

“You think he knew I was here?” She turned to Gendry, flustered and sweaty from being under the thick duvet.

“Nah, I think we’re good.” He looked nervously around the room, sparking an awkward silence to fall between them. Arya moved away from his side and lay on the other side of the bed, her hair fanning out on the pillow.

After a minute Gendry turned to her, voice wavering slightly, 

“Well I’ve never done that with you before”

“Nope!” she barked back at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

“So uh, how are ya, how you doing?” he stuttered

“Yep yep, you?”

“Oh yes uhuh, you? We did you.” 

“Well, I better get going!” she laughed nervously.

“Oh yeah absolutely”

Before lifting the covers to retrieve her dress from the pile of clothes, Arya became very aware of her own nakedness. 

“Could you not look?” she asked, hoping to walk out of this with at least some dignity left. 

“I don’t wanna look!” 

,,,

Slipping into his waistcoat, the door to Gendry’s hotel room swung open revealing a panting Theon, who had luckily failed to come back to their shared room the night before most likely off canoodling with one of the bridal party.

“Hey have you seen Arya?” he marched into the room, and peered into the bathroom for any sign of her.

“I’m not seeing Arya!” Gendry stepped backwards. 

“What?” Theon stopped his searching to look at him for a second.

“What?”

“Look we’ve got to find her, Sansa is coming to tell Jon that she loves him!”

“Oh my god” Gendry knew Jon and Sansa had lingering feelings for each other, despite their split up last year with the whole ‘we were on a break!’ fiasco.

“I know that’s why we’ve got to find Arya, do you have any idea where she is?”

“No okay! What’s with the third degree why don’t you just shine a light in my eyes?” he gestured wildly, panicked by the idea that Theon knew something about his night with Arya.

“Okay whatever, will you just hurry up and finish getting dressed, I want you to keep an eye on Jon just in case.” Theon sighed and left the room, as the door closed Gendry let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

,,,

The derelict church hall was lit with hundreds of candles, dotted around on every flat surface in the room. The maid of honour lead the procession with Ygritte’s brother, and they moved from the entrance to walk down the aisle as the band began to play the wedding march. Next in the line Arya smoothed the front of her red satin dress and linked her arm into Gendry’s. 

After a beat, just as they had practiced in her living room with her mother screaming directions down the phone, the pair walked side by side in time with the music, smiles plastered on their faces as the guests turned to watch them make their way to the altar. Around half way down, Gendry leaned into her side slightly and whispered, “What we did last night was…”

“Stupid.” she finished for him.

“Yeah I mean totally crazy, stupid.” he chuckled lightly, still walking slowly towards Jon at the end of the aisle.

“Ha, what were we thinking!” 

Silence fell over them again for a second, until he continued, “I'm coming over tonight though right?”

Arya felt herself blush, all day she had been thinking about the way he held her the night before, moaning softly in her ear as they moved together. 

“Oh yeah definitely.” she retorted as they made it to the altar, and unhooked her arm from his so they could take their places.

,,,

Stood next to Jon at the altar, Gendry watched speechless as Theon answered his phone half way through the procession, just so Robb could listen to the wedding from Winterfell. Where he sat at the hospital, waiting while Margery agonised through the birth of Renly and Loras’ surrogate baby. 

Ever the supporting boyfriend, Robb had meticulously planned to stay at home to support his very pregnant girlfriend and Skype in to watch the ceremony, but his plan had failed when she went into labour earlier than anticipated. 

Theon quickly moved to stand by Gendry, and the guests rose as Ygritte appeared at the back of the church, and made her way towards them at the front. 

The minister gestured for the room to be seated, and Gendry caught sight of Arya from the other side of the platform they stood on with the rest of the wedding party. He didn’t get a good look at her earlier, having to calm Jon down when he couldn’t decide which way of pronouncing ‘I do’ sounded the best. 

But now, he noticed how she had pinned up her hair on one side, and let the other hang loose, the soft waves falling against her cheek and curling outward slightly at the ends just above her collar bone. He saw the way that her red bridesmaid dress skimmed her hips and had been tailored to flow in at the waist, highlighting her silhouette in the dim candlelight of the church.

When his eyes lead back to hers, she caught sight of his staring, and turned her head to one side ever so slightly, not breaking eye contact for a second. He smirked at her and looked back at Jon as Ygritte finished reciting her vows.

“And Jon, repeat after me. I, Jon…” the minister prompted.

“I, Jon.”

“...Take thee, Ygritte.”

“Take thee, Sansa.” A deafening silence fell over the room, Gendry’s eyes widened as Theon and some other guests gasped at this catastrophic mishap. Sansa sat in the third gawking at Jon. She had decided against telling him how she felt, but it turns out her surprise arrival at the wedding was enough to send him into a catastrophic brain fog. In all the years that Gendry had known Jon, he had never messed up this badly. Not once. 

“Ygritte- I take thee, Ygritte.”

Gendry looked straight back to Arya, who was still looking at him, shaking her head slightly and mouthed “for fucks sake.” 

,,, 

At the buffet table, Arya spooned the wilding’s catering food onto her plate, trying to ignore the sound of Jon pleading for Ygritte to talk to him outside the bathroom door. When Sansa had turned up at the wedding unannounced, Arya was sure it was all going to kick off. Instead, Jon managed to do that by himself, albeit by saying Sansa’s name at the altar but nonetheless, he did it of his own accord. 

In the short time that Arya had known Jon’s new wife she had grown to understand her as a force to be reckoned with, watching how she talked the demolition team off of the church grounds for the day so the wedding could go ahead. It had impressed her greatly, but she knew that the woman’s fiery energy would be working overtime to tell Jon exactly what she thought of him.

The shouting died down for a minute, and Gendry appeared at her side once more, “Hey, I know we had plans tonight and everything but I’m just worried about what it might do to our friendship.” he licked his bottom lip, clearly anxious.

“Ugh I know. How did we let this happen?” she turned to him, lowering her voice slightly.

“Seven times!”

“Ugh,” she stifled a laugh. After a beat, she shrugged and made to resolve the tension, “you know what, we were away.”

“In a foreign, romantic place.”

“I blame Eastwatch.” she moved down the table, eyeing up the vat of soup and ladling some into a bowl. 

“Bad Eastwatch!” he used a serving spoon to slap the buffet table, Arya felt a jolt go straight to her core.

“Hey look while we’re still_ in _ Eastwatch I mean we can keep doing it, right?”

“Well I don't think we have a choice, but when we are back home we don't do it.” 

"Nope, only here!"

"You know I saw a wine cellar downstairs…" he nodded towards the corridor outside of the dining hall.

"Meet you there in two minutes?"

"Okay!”

Arya thrust down the bowl onto the table and made towards the bathrooms to freshen up. Before she could leave, Sansa stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Arya I’ve got to ask you something”

“Now?” She grabbed the small tin of mints from the bottom of her purse, and popped one in her mouth.

“I mean, Jon said my name up there! That can't just be nothing can it?”

“I don't know…” She ran her fingers through the loose side of her hair, ruffling it a bit.

“Arya what should I do?” Sansa stared at her impatiently. The only thing on Arya’s mind being Gendry’s arms, and that thing he did with his hands- Sansa waved her hand in front of her face which drew her thoughts away from Gendry, Gendry who she _ should _ be on top of at this precise moment.

“Just uh, do the right thing,” Arya embraced her sister awkwardly, “tow the line, thread the needle, think outside the box!” she pulled back and gave her a look, checking that the conversation was over so she could get to the wine cellar.

“I think I’m just going to talk to Jon about what he thinks it means.” Her sister went to leave the room in search of a resolute answer. Arya knew the two would have to have this conversation at some point, but now was not the time.

“Wait- Sansa no, he's _ married _, if you don't realise that I can’t help you.”

“Okay yeah you’re right, you can’t help me” she marched out of the room, her auburn hair bouncing as she went to search for Jon.

Arya sighed helplessly and turned the corner towards the stairwell, where she saw Gendry walking up to her, putting his blazer back on while blushing profusely.

“I thought we were supposed to meet in the wine cellar?” she whispered to him, he stopped in front of her where she stood with her back against the wall.

“Forget it that's off” he placed his hand on the wall beside her head and leant down towards her.

“Wh-” he nodded towards the stairwell where Ygritte’s drunken father appeared with a hoard of guests behind him, “The next tour of the wine cellar will commence in... two minutes.”

“Oh. My room should be empty? Sansa’s off searching for Jon.” Without a second word, Gendry grabbed her hand and made towards the elevator.

,,,

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Gendry cleared his throat as they stepped outside and turned to Arya as they approached her door, “Listen in the middle of everything if I scream the word yippee just ignore me.” 

She rolled her eyes at him, pulled a keycard out of her purse and burst open the door. Where they expected to find an empty room, they found Sansa sat on the window seat, her brows furrowed and arms crossed firmly over her chest.

“Oh my god Sansa!” Arya moved to stand in front of him, Gendry inwardly cursed his trousers that seemed to be getting tighter by the second.

“Ohhh hello Sansa” he trawled. All he wanted was to pick up where they left off last night.

“Jon said my name up there, okay? My name. That obviously means that he still loves me!” she paused, clearly waiting for them to agree, “Okay don't believe me I know I'm right.”

Sansa rose from her seat and grabbed her bag from the bed. “Do you want to go and get a drink?” 

“Yes we do! But... we need to change first.” Gendry blurted out, 

Arya quickly understood his urgent outburst, and backed herself against him, resting her ass over the evident bulge in his trousers. “Why don't you go get us a table?” 

“Yeah we’ll be down in like 5 minutes.” he closed his eyes and relished the feeling of her body pressed against his. 

“15 minutes!” she elbowed him in the chest, his eyes jolting open.

“Okay I’ll see you there.” 

Just as Gendry thought they had finally got the privacy he so desperately craved, Sansa’s phone rang and she sat back down to answer.

“Hello? Oh hey Robb. Guys it’s Robb!”

“Oh aha yeah great” Arya nodded to her, plastering a fake smile on her face.

Gendry let out a grunt, and leaned down to whisper in Arya’s ear. “Hey listen why don't we go change in my room?”

“But my clothes are in- oh...” he was pushed out of the room quickly as she realised what he meant. They raced down the corridor towards his door, where she stopped for a second to get out of her heels.

Gendry backed her against the door and pulled her in for a searing kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. She slipped her hand into his back pocket for his keycard, and swiped it against the door. They pulled apart and rushed inside, she made towards the other side of the room and flashed him a wicked smile.

For the sake of interruptions, Gendry put the door on the latch. He turned to face her and slowly, he walked to where she stood against the small chaise under the window. “Wow you look-

“No time for that.” she stood suddenly and took large strides to join him in the centre of the room, her hands flying to his belt buckle.

“Okay” he spun her around, his hands moving to unzip her bridesmaid dress; he worked it down to the small of her back, and pushed a strap over her shoulder. Gendry attached his lips to the side of her neck when the door handle jiggled and it opened to where the latch allowed.

“Hey dude let me in I got a girl out here” Theon demanded from the other side of the door.

Arya and Gendry flew apart, he quickly zipped her back up and she slipped her shoes back on. 

He walked towards the door and hissed back at him“Well I've got a girl in here!”

“No you don’t, I just saw you come out of the elevator with Arya!” Theon retorted, Gendry’s eyes widened. He prayed Theon hadn’t seen them kiss in the hallway.

“Well... we’re hanging out in here!”

“Which one of us is going to be having sex in there, me or you?” At this point Theon sounded agitated, so Gendry gave up

“Well I suppose I would have to say you.” He unlatched the door and shot an apologetic look to Arya, who smirked back at him and whispered “Follow me.” as she brushed past him in the doorway.

,,,

The door to what would have been Jon and Ygritte’s room swung open, and Arya stood speechless at the bed covered in rose petals in front of her as Gendry moved towards the sideboard where a bottle of champagne sat waiting in a bucket of ice. 

“You really think this is okay?” She twirled a piece of hair between her fingers nervously. 

“Well, Jon and Ygritte aren't going to use it” Gendry joked as he picked up the bottle and inspected the label.

“It's so beautiful, oh I don’t know if I feel right about this.”

“Arya listen- this is the honeymoon suite, the room expects sex, the room would be dissapointed if it didnt get sex…” he gestured to the walls around them. Arya didn’t need much convincing, her craving for him having grown more each time they came close to finally carrying on from the night before.

“Okay!”

The two moved rapidly to pull back the bedspread and threw the mountain of decorative pillows haphazardly across the room. Their eyes locked and Gendry stripped off his waistcoat when Jon burst through the double doors, shouting for his wife who he had lost track of in their arguing.

“Ygritte?”

“Nope not under here!” Gendry exclaimed, his voice pained from yet another intrusion.

“You didn't find her?” Arya questioned Jon who was too stressed to notice her disheveled appearance.

“No I've looked everywhere.” He sighed in defeat and sat down on the tousled bed sheets.

“Well you couldn't had looked everywhere or else you would have found her!” Gendry prompted. 

“Yeah I think you should keep looking.” Arya patted Jon on the shoulder in encouragement. 

“For maybe, 30 minutes?” He caught her eye.

"Or 45?” She shrugged at him.

“Wow in 45 minutes you could find her twice!” he stifled a laugh, she raised her eyebrow at him and felt the roof of her mouth go dry.

“No for all I know she's trying to find me but couldn't because I kept moving around. From now on I’m staying in one place, right here.” Jon leant back on his hands and took a deep breath. Arya nodded to Gendry, signalling that they should leave.

“Well I guess, it's late.” She said sheepishly to Jon as Gendry picked up his waistcoat and jacket from the floor

“Actually do you guys mind staying here for a bit?” He tilted his head upwards. 

“You know we've gotta get up early and catch that plane to Winterfell.” she started, aching for Gendry after all their running around. 

“Yes it's a very large plane.” Gendry added, smoothing his hair down.

“That’s fine.” Jon mumbled to himself, and looked to the floor.

“But we’ll stay here with you...” Arya knew that Jon would spiral out of control if left by himself on his wedding night. So she and Gendry sat either side of him 

“Thanks guys,” She leant her head on his shoulder in reassurance, “I really appreciate this you know but you don’t need to rub my ass.” Arya lifted her head swiftly and choked, 

“How about something to eat, room service?”

,,, 

Gendry lugged his and Arya’s suitcases up the many flights of stairs leading towards their apartments. When they made it, he quickly unlocked his door and slipped his case inside before following Arya through her own front door opposite his.

Arya plopped herself down at her kitchen table and ran her hands through her hair, “Well we certainly are alone.”

“Yes good thing we had that not Winterfell rule.” he stood awkwardly against the sink, already feeling the effects of their fling on their friendship.

“Right, um listen since we’re on that subject,” Arya rose from the table and moved to stand in front of him, “I just wanted to tell you that well, I was going through a really hard time. What with Jon getting married and that drunk guy thinking I was his mother.” 

“Ha right.” Gendry licked his lips in anticipation.

“Anyway I just- that night meant a lot to me and I guess I'm trying to say thanks.” she finished with a small smile.

“Oh, well you know that night meant a lot to me too, and it wasn't because I was in a bad place or anything it just meant a lot to me because... you're really hot.” he looked back to her and laughed. “Is that okay?”

“That's okay Gendry” she retorted, her smile spreading.

“And... I'm cute too?” he teased, lifting himself from the counter. 

“And you're cute too.”

“Thank you.” he brought her in for a hug and rested his chin on the top of her head. They pulled back and lingered in each others arms for a second.

Gendry let go and headed towards her door. “Alright, I gotta go unpack.”

“Okay.”

“Bye” he grinned at her once more before shutting the door behind him. 

Despite the suitcase of dirty clothes Gendry had to attend to waiting for him in his apartment, he stood aimlessly in the small hallway between their doors for a minute. Over the time they spent living across from each other and hanging out in their little friendship group, Arya had become one of his closest friends, but something had shifted in his mind after they spent the night together. It was like he was seeing her in a completely different light than before, but it all just kind of... made sense to him. 

He checked his watch, 2:30pm in Eastwatch, he had yet to set it back an hour to Winterfell’s time zone. At this he turned swiftly around and burst into Arya’s apartment where she stood with her head in her hands facing away from him. She spun to meet his gaze, he breathed out,

“I'm still on Eastwatch time does that count?”

“Oh that counts…” she strode towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, he brought his lips to hers and picked her up by the thighs. 

“Good.” he mumbled against her lips, he felt her smile as he walked her towards her bedroom.


	2. the one where they're secretly dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There's a nuclear holocaust, I'm the last man on Earth. Would you go out with me?"  
"Meh"
> 
> Basically the gendrya mondler au no one asked for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Now I understand if you never want to sleep with me again, but that would be wrong. We’re too good, we owe it to sex!” 
> 
> “Well if we owe it!”

In the dimly lit bathroom, Gendry sat opposite Arya in his tub with a glass of champagne in his hand. They had been seeing each other for a week now, and were taking every opportunity to spend time alone.

“You look cute in bubbles.” she gushed.

“Nah you're just all liquored up” he leaned in to kiss her, when a knocking and Theon’s voice sounded from outside the bathroom door.

“Hey its me, i'm coming in.” the door handle began to turn. Arya quickly took a deep breath and ducked under the surface of the water, Gendry pushed some bubbles over the empty space she had made.

Theon propped open the door with his foot and shot him a raised eyebrow.

“I've had a very long hard day…” he began to explain, suddenly very aware of the sheer amount of candles in the room. 

“Uh, I'm gonna go get some chicken do you want some?” Theon asked, gesturing to the fast food restaurant across the street from their apartment.

“No thanks, no chicken. Bye now” Gendry urged him out of the room.

“Okay, you sure? Some extra crispy, dirty rice, beans?” 

“For the last time no. Get out Theon!” he pleaded with his roommate.

“Alright!” he shut the door hard behind him and Arya shot up, gasping for air.

“Are you okay?” Gendry rubbed her arm, “I'm so sorry he wouldn't leave, he kept asking me if I wanted chicken.”

“Chicken? I could eat some chicken.” she tilted her head to one side, they hadn’t eaten since breakfast afterall. Gendry nodded to her, she took another breath and dunked her head under the water. 

“Hey Theon!” Gendry called out, he came back into the room holding his wallet. 

“Yeah could I get a three piece, some coleslaw and some beans and a coke ahhh- diet coke.” 

Arya lay with her body flat to the bathtub, and was pinching Gendry’s thigh harshly as he asked for the coke, he knew how much she hated the taste of it and so quickly opted for the diet version instead, which to him just tasted like regular coke with added chemicals. But he wasn’t one to argue with Arya on food and drink, with her being a chef and all. 

,,,

In the coffee house, Arya flicked aimlessly through the newspaper with Gendry looking over her shoulder every two seconds to glance at the sports section. Robb and Sansa sat next to them, chatting about Margery’s premature labour at the other end of the couch. Jon suddenly rose from his seat and grabbed his jacket, 

“I've got to get to the flower shop. No one will tell me where Ygritte is so i'm sending 72 long stem red roses to her parents’ house. One for each day I have known and loved her.”

“Hey Jon, when you write the card make sure you make it out to _ Ygritte.” _Gendry called to him as he made his way towards the exit. Jon stopped for a second to flip him off before continuing out the door.

Arya turned to her sister and smiled, “Sansa I think it's great that you’re over what happened at the wedding.”

Her head snapped up from her conversation with Robb at this, 

“What? I am not over it, he said my name up there and he won't admit that it means something. And it’s all my fault because I should have never gone to stupid Eastwatch.”

She slumped back in her chair. Arya now realising she probably shouldn’t have said anything.

Sansa sat up again and continued, “You know why? Because I make bad decisions. You were right Robb, from now on you make all my decisions for me.” she stirred her coffee with force, clearly agitated by the conversation.

“No I did that once and it ended badly, I don't like having that much power and control over someone’s life.” Robb declined her, already stressed with his girlfriend being in hospital.

“I'll do it!” Arya beamed at her sister.

“Great! Arya, you are now in charge of my love life.”

Robb rose from the couch and put his phone in his back pocket, “Hey, I've got to get back to the hospital, Renly just text. They want to keep Marge and the babies in the ICU for even longer.”

Arya nodded at him as Gendry stood also, “I’ll walk with you, I've got to get to work.”

Instinctively, Gendry leaned down to Arya’s lips for a goodbye kiss and she happily obliged, completely forgetting that her siblings were not two feet away from them. 

They pulled back from the kiss and froze, Arya’s eyes darted to Sansa who sat gobsmacked at the sight before her. 

“And uh Sansa- great to see you” Arya watched as Gendry moved to where her sister was sat and awkwardly placed a chaste kiss to her lips, Sansa’s eyes widening further as he did so. 

Gendry pulled away after a second and Arya stifled a laugh as he put his hands on his hips and sighed, trying to style out the awkwardness. 

“Always a pleasure, shall we Robb?” Gendry marched out the coffee house, with a very confused Robb in tow. Arya turned back to face her sister and shrugged.

“What on Earth was that?” Sansa started at her, eyebrows raised.

“Maybe some wilding goodbye thing he picked up in Eastwatch, I don't know.” Arya replied nonchalantly, turning her attention back to the newspaper.

“The wildings don't do that...” she continued, Arya cursed inwardly.

“You know Gendry, he’s a funny guy. I’m sure it’s nothing Sansa.” Arya brushed her off once more, Sansa dropped the subject and drank her coffee.

,,, 

Gendry walked through the reception doors of the hospital with Theon and found Arya curled in one of the waiting room chairs, with her knees tucked against her chest and her head leant against the wall. Robb had called them earlier in the day to come and visit the babies, with Margery being moved to the post-partum ward.

He watched as Theon dropped into the chair next to Arya and shook her awake, earning him a glare. Robb and Sansa appeared from the hallway holding two cups of coffee, looking exhausted after having spent most of the past week cooped up at Margery’s bedside while she dealt with recovery.

“Sorry we’re late, Theon insisted on stopping for ice cream.” Gendry rolled his eyes and sat in the chair opposite from Arya, giving her a small smile. 

Sansa sat next to him and suddenly sprung to life, “Arya, you are going to be so proud of me. I just got us dates with two unbelievably cute nurses.” 

“Oh my…” Theon grinned, putting his hands behind his head.

“They are male nurses” Sansa scoffed back at him.

“Not in my head.” Gendry rolled his eyes at his roommate.

“Anyway, they want to take us out Saturday night, what do you say?”

Gendry saw Arya shift nervously in her seat, “Um, I don't think so.”

“What are you talking about? You're the one that's been telling me to get over Jon and move on. I'm moving on and you're moving on with me. Give me one good reason why you don't want to go!” Sansa asked with a puzzled look on her face. 

Gendry felt his mouth go dry, even though it had just been a week since he and Arya first hooked up, he didn’t like the idea of her seeing other people at the same time, not one bit. 

“Well, why don't you give me something that would be a good reason and then I'll tell you if it’s true…” Arya shot back at her, twirling a clump of hair between her fingers.

“What?”

“Harder than it sounds, isn't it?” 

“Okay you're coming with me. And I also told them that if we’re still here when they get off then we will go down to the cafeteria to get some jello with them.” Sansa shrugged. 

“Yep, _ there's always room for jello _” Theon grinned.

“Theon how do you make that dirty?” Gendry asked, his roommate’s ability to find the lewd meaning in everything had always left him at a loss for words.

“Ah it's easy I can do it with anything, watch. Uh, _ Catelyn’s chicken salad _.” He replied, earning him another shove from Arya.

,,, 

Arya wandered out of Margery’s hospital room and found Gendry sat outside the door,

“Ah hey there you are.” He stood up to walk towards her and they ducked into an empty corridor. 

“Listen there's something you should know-” she started, hoping to clear the air about Sansa’s arrangements with the nurses. Arya didn’t want to see anyone else, the shift between friendship and whatever it was they were doing felt so natural, she didn’t want to ruin this with him.

“Oh is this about you dating the nurse? Yeah I am so so fine, I mean you and I were just ah nothing, goofing around.” Arya was taken aback, Gendry had suddenly gone cold with her, acting almost like Theon.

“Actually I was going to tell you that I was going to get out of it. But if we're just goofing around then maybe I will go out with him” she folded her arms over her chest in annoyance, her anger rising. 

“Fine, maybe I will too.” Gendry blurted back. His eyes looked pained, she knew he was just putting on a front to save face.

Just then, Arya spotted her sister approaching down the corridor, chatting to a male nurse “Sansa!”

They stopped in front of where her and Gendry stood, she unfolded her arms and let them drop to her side, brushing lightly against Gendry’s hip accidentally.

“Arya this is Dan I was telling you about, one of the guys that we’re going out with on Saturday.” Sansa gestured to the man on her right.

“Hello Dan! I'm really looking forward to Saturday.” She stuck out her hand for him to shake it, his grip was loose and his hands felt weirdly damp. 

“Hi, Arya. Nice to meet you.” Dan was fairly well built, his short blonde hair pushed to one side of his face framing his deep brown eyes. Arya didn’t mind looking at him, but she didn’t feel any way inclined to rip off his clothes like she did with Gendry. 

“So Dan, nurse not a doctor huh?” He piped up from her side, his brows furrowed as he got a good look of the man opposite him. 

“Yeah I’m using it to put me through medical school.” Dan retorted as he squared his shoulders, coming nowhere close to meeting Gendry’s height.

Despite this, Arya felt his arms relax next to hers and his back slumped against the wall

“Oh right- nevermind sorry” he mumbled and made off down the corridor.

,,, 

Gendry sat with his head in his hands on a vacant stretcher, he sighed deeply as he heard slow footsteps approaching and a person sat down next to him. He didn’t need to look up to know it was Arya, he could tell by the sound of her soft breathing and the scent of her woody perfume. 

“Are you really going to go out with that nurse man?” he turned to her, catching her eyes immediately.

“Well, you and I are just goofing around, I thought, why don't I goof around with him?” she shrugged, not breaking eye contact. 

“You know, I don't know if you’ve ever looked up the term ’goofing around’ in the dictionary,” he adjusted his posture, “well I have... and the technical definition is: two friends who care a lot about each other, and have amazing sex, and just want to spend more time together.” Gendry saw a small smile form in the corner of her mouth, he couldn’t resist pushing back a strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes.

“But if you have this new fangled dictionary that gets you mad at me then we have to get you my original dictionary… I am so bad at this.” She was grinning at him now and he chuckled lightly to himself.

“I think you're better than you think you are” She nudged his side playfully.

“Really?” he retorted with a smirk. “Okay so if-”

She raised her index finger to his lips to silence him, “Know when to stop.”

“You know I sense that I should.” he nodded to her and she laughed again, the vibration in her chest passing through to him where her arm grazed his.

“So we’re okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m going to go tell Dan that it’s not going to happen” They rose from the stretcher, she shot him another sweet smile and turned to walk down the corridor. 

He felt himself subconsciously flail his arms and shuffle a little in excitement as a wide smile plastered itself on his face. Ever since they met he had always hated arguing with Arya, who matched his witty comments and dry sense of humour like no one else he knew. 

“Don't do the dance.” she called back to him, putting a light swing in her hips as she walked.

“Right!” 

,,, 

Arya laid seductively on her fresh sheets when a knock sounded on her bedroom door - Gendry. They had planned to spend the afternoon together while Sansa was going into town with Margery. She played absentmindedly with the belt on her satin robe as she beckoned him in, “Come in, I’ve been waiting for you...”

“Hi i just wanted to- oh my god Arya!” Her visitor was in fact not Gendry, but instead Sansa. She cried out and ran out of the room as soon as she entered. 

Arya quickly stood from her position on the bed and bolted into the living room to explain, “I’m sorry, I was taking a nap!” she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around her middle. 

“Since when do you take naps in that position? Oh god Arya please tell me you were waiting for a guy please tell me you were.” Sansa paced around their living room, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Yes, I was. A guy, from work. I’m seeing a guy from work!” Arya half shouted to her sister, 

“That cute waiter guy from the restaurant? The one that looks like a younger, non-threatening Stannis?” Sansa had stopped pacing at this point, and had a glint of intrigue in her eye.

“That's the one.” Arya sat down on the armrest of the couch and carefully crossed her legs. 

“Okay give me a second I'm just going to grab a jacket, when I get back I want every little detail!” Sansa rushed into her bedroom and returned with a trench coat, she made her way swiftly to the door. A loud knock sounded and she spun around to meet Arya’s gaze,

“Maybe that's him…” she opened the door dramatically only to be met with a cocky looking Gendry holding a bottle of champagne.

“Ugh, Gendry.” Sansa sighed and pulled a lipstick out of her pocket, applying it in the small mirror fixed next to their coat rack. 

“Hey- oh what are you doing here Sansa?” Gendry stepped inside, startled to find Arya with company. 

“I was just getting a coat, I'm going shopping with Marge. What are _ you _ doing Gendry?” She gestured to him with her lipstick. 

“Oh uh, i'm here to celebrate that the office finally got wrinkle free printer paper!” Arya watched as he awkwardly thrusted the bottle in the air.

“Right okay, I'm heading out. Have fun Arya!” Sansa called to her in a sing-song voice as she sauntered out of the apartment, shutting the door behind her.

Arya let out a sigh of relief and threw herself face first into the couch cushions, 

“She’s never going to let me live that down, I hope you know that.”

“Right, well am I going to stand here all day or…” he replied with a cheeky grin. Arya leapt out of her place and made her way to him in the kitchen, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

,,,

Sat in the coffee house chatting with Sansa, Gendry sipped on his latte when Arya appeared and plopped down into the armchair next to their sofa.

He placed his drink back onto the table in front of him as Sansa shifted their conversation to her sister, “So Gendry, have you heard about Arya’s secret boyfriend?”

Caught off guard by her question, he cleared his throat “Uh, yeah she might have mentioned him.” he replied, trying to play it cool as Arya adjusted her position in her chair and shook her head at him subtly. 

“When are we going to meet this new waiter man?” Sansa turned to her.

“Oh, he's really shy I don’t think he’s up to meeting everyone yet” Arya trailed.

“I don’t think he's up to meeting everyone yet” Gendry agreed and picked up his coffee again in an attempt to hide his smile. 

“I don’t care! I want to meet this guy whos the best sex she’s ever had.” Sansa slapped her sister on the knee and Gendry nearly choked.

He sat up like a shot, joining Sansa in her questioning, “Really?! That’s what you heard? You said that?”

“I might have said that.” Arya admitted as her cheeks flushed. 

Gendry couldn’t stop himself from laughing any longer. With a smug grin, he doubled over and grabbed the couch cushion.

“Why is that funny?” Arya said through gritted teeth, sat bolt upright now also.

“Because I'm very happy for him, and you! You lucky dog!” he exclaimed as he wiped a tear from his eye. 

“Hey guys…” Jon wandered into the coffee house and slumped into the space next to Gendry on the couch.

“Hey, how’s it going with Ygritte?” Gendry asked, quickly registering the solemn look on his face.

“She's willing to work on things, in Eastwatch.” He leaned his head against his palm and sighed.

“What?” Sansa questioned, her brows furrowed. 

“She wants me to move to Eastwatch.” He looked up from the floor. 

“But you live here!” Gendry blurted out without thinking, “You know that.” 

,,, 

Arya averted her gaze from the TV to Gendry as he exited the bathroom and sat down next to Robb and Margery on her sofa. 

“Hey Arya, can I ask you a cooking question?” he started. 

“Yeah what's up?” She flicked the volume button down a couple of notches so she could hear him properly.

“So if you're cooking on the stove... does that mean your new secret boyfriend is better in bed than Ned Dayne?” His intrigued look quickly morphed into a devious grin.

Margery leaned past Robb to smack him on the arm, “Gendry! Is he?” she questioned also. 

“I’m just going to respect the privacy of my new secret boyfriend.” Arya folded her arms over her chest and returned her attention to the TV. 

“Why? I mean if this guy was _ me _ , and it was _ me _ that had learned that it was _ me _who was the best sex you’ve ever had, I’d be going like this.” Suddenly Gendry sprung from the couch and jumped onto the coffee table, flailing his arms in the air until Arya pinched his calf and told him to sit down. 

Clambering through the open window acting as a makeshift door to the apartment balcony, Jon furiously hung up his phone and grunted. He leant his palms against the back of the sofa and started to rant, “So I asked Ygritte if she would come to Winterfell, and she said yes.”

“Great!” Arya and Gendry said in unison, she threw him a glare.

“No no! Only if I promise to never see Sansa again” He gestured to Sansa’s empty bedroom.

“What did you tell her?” Robb urged.

“I told her I would have to think about it, how the hell am I meant to make this kind of a decision?” He paused for a second, and looked around the room expectantly, “I'm actually asking you!”

“Well you can't just not see Sansa anymore she's one of your best friends.” Margery started.

“But he can't exactly not see Ygritte I mean, that’s his wife.” Robb countered, while placing his arm around her, Arya’s heart panged and she glanced to Gendry. 

“That's true!” He echoed and met her gaze. She quickly looked back to Jon and tried to ignore his eyes which were still locked on her. 

“But you've known Sansa since school and you can't just cut someone out like that.” Arya continued, she was always rooting for Jon and Sansa, even if he had messed things up for them so catastrophically in their ‘break’.

“Thanks for the help, problem solved.” Jon pushed himself off the sofa back in defeat and walked right out of the apartment.

,,, 

Gendry sat at one of the recliners in his apartment, carelessly flicking through documents for an upcoming presentation at work. His focus was drawn away however when Arya burst through his door with a harsh look on her face. 

“Hey! Theon’s going to be out all day, we have the place to ourselves.” he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Arya stared blankly at him, “Yeah, so?”

“Well I thought you would want to book some time with the best you’ve ever had.” he brought his hand to his chest. 

“You know what, champ? I think I'll pass.” She had her hands on her hips now, this was not turning out how Gendry had anticipated. He stood up and met her at the kitchen counter.

“Why?” he asked. 

Arya suddenly jumped on the spot and imitated his dancing from the previous day when he had stood on her coffee table. She jutted her hips out and put on an exaggerated pouty face, wildly flinging her arms around. After a minute she stopped and stared back at him expectantly. 

“What's your point?” he replied. She scoffed and went back across the hall to her own apartment, so Gendry decided to follow her. 

“I cannot make this decision, it is too difficult so I am just going to leave it to the gods of fate.” Jon announced as they walked over the threshold. He was sat at Arya’s kitchen table with a giant eight ball in front of him.

“A magic eight ball? You can't be serious. You can't make this decision with a toy!” Gendry sat down opposite him, watching as Arya skirted around him towards the fridge.

“Well I don't know what else to do! I either keep my wife, and lose one of my best friends or I keep my friend and get divorced at thirty. So if anyone else has a better suggestion then let's hear it because I am all out of ideas!” Gendry looked to Arya who still had her back turned to him and then back to Jon, he picked up the eight ball and shook it. 

“Magic eight ball, should I never see Sansa again?” He turned it over, “Ask again later. Later is not good enough!” He shook it again with more vigor, nearly smacking himself in the forehead. Arya turned and closed the fridge at this point and joined them at the table, grabbing the eight ball out of Jon’s hands. 

“Okay let's see. Will Gendry have sex tonight?” He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t count on it. Seems like it works to me.” she declared and sauntered into her bedroom.

,,, 

Arya wrapped herself in a fluffy towel and stepped out of the bathroom, expecting to find her apartment empty. Instead, Gendry stood in her kitchen, leaning against the countertops apprehensively and toying with his fingers. When he noticed her presence in the room, he lifted himself from the counter.

“Look maybe I got carried away before, but there’s something you have to know. If im the best, it's only because you made me the best.”

She sat down on the back of her sofa, “Keep talking.”

“I mean I was nothing before you, call the other girls and ask! It won't take you long.” He stammered, a small smile toyed at her mouth. 

“But when I’m with you and we’re together, oh my god…” Gendry threw his head backwards.

“Really?” she was fully grinning at him now.

“Oh my god!” He brought his hands to his hair for a moment and began moving towards her. 

“Now I understand if you never want to sleep with me again, but that would be wrong. We’re too good, we owe it to sex!” He stopped right in front of her and brought his hand to the back of her neck. A light hum of appreciation slipped out from her and she chuckled.

“Well if we owe it!” Arya jumped into his arms, the towel loosening around her chest slightly. “When is Theon going to be home?” 

“I was kinda hoping we could do this without him.” Gendry smirked back to her as he moved to carry her over to his apartment. 

Arya pointed in the direction of her front door, “Alright, let’s show em how it’s done.” he picked up the pace and as he opened the door and accidentally bumped the back of her head with it.

“Ow!” she shrieked playfully, it didn’t hurt at all. 

“That wasn’t part of it.” He assured.

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just me posting for axg week early because I got too excited, based on the day 6 prompt 'I'll be there'.
> 
> All feedback is welcome :)


	3. the one where theon finds out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There's a nuclear holocaust, I'm the last man on Earth. Would you go out with me?"  
"Meh"
> 
> Basically the gendrya mondler au no one asked for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I’m really getting tired of sneaking around all the time”
> 
> “Me too. Hey, what if we went away for the whole weekend? We would have no interruptions and we could be naked the entire time!”

Gendry had always been a bad sleeper, ever since he was little he had trouble staying asleep. So he found himself stood in his dressing gown, making a cup of coffee in the darkness of the apartment at 3:02am. In the four years he had lived in this place, Gendry decided that this time of night was his favourite. The bustling streets of Winterfell were quiet with only a few cars on the road. He tended to get his best thinking done in the middle of the night too, having once decided to flip his mattress just as the sun started to rise and the birds outside his window chirped. 

Pulling him out of his thoughts, the door to his apartment cracked open slightly and Arya’s face appeared in the gap. Gendry put his coffee down and moved to unlatch the door, pulling her inside for a searing kiss, “Morning” he mumbled into her lips. They had been living this routine for just over a month at this point, creeping around and stealing kisses when their friends weren’t looking. 

They stumbled around for a bit, forgetting to stay quiet. He had her pressed against their foosball table and accidentally knocked the ball from its place. It slid across the table and loudly bumped into the miniature players within seconds Theon’s bedroom door swung open and he switched on the lights. “Arya? What time is it?”

Arya pushed him backwards with a hard shove to his chest,“Uhh, 9:00.”

He eyed the small alarm clock on their counter and before Theon could notice it, he forced it into the sink

“But it’s dark out?” his roommate sleepily pointed to the window.

“Well that’s because you always sleep until noon! This is what 9:00 looks like.” Arya offered and nervously glanced to him.

“I guess I’ll get washed up then, watch that sunrise.” Gendry breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the bathroom and lazily shut the door behind him.

“I’m really getting tired of sneaking around all the time” she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed a little, sending a shiver down his back.

He placed a kiss on her forehead when an idea popped into his head, “Me too. Hey, what if we went away for the whole weekend? We would have no interruptions and we could be naked the entire time!” He massaged one of her shoulders lightly.

She beamed up at him, leaning her head against his hand, “All weekend? That’s a whole lot of naked!”

“Yeah I can say I have a conference and you could say you have a uh, chef thing” Gendry motioned to her as if he was holding a frying pan.

Arya’s eyes lit up, “Oh I’ve always wanted to go to this culinary fair they have in Highgarden” she exclaimed.

“Oh fun! You know you’re not though right?” he questioned, she rolled her eyes back and nodded. Gendry slung his arm around her and moved towards his bedroom, reveling in the feeling of her tucked into his side.

She stilled for a second, “Wait, what about theon?”

Gendry strode across the apartment and opened the bathroom door to reveal Theon asleep on the toilet with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

,,,

On their way up to their hotel room, right on the seafront of White Harbour, Arya couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across her face, as she held onto Gendry’s hand all the way in the elevator and down the corridor to their room for the weekend. The bellman carrying their bags swiftly unlocked the door and ushered them in, dropping their luggage by the wardrobe and promptly leaving them alone.

As the door clicked shut, Gendry pounced onto the king sized bed and gestured for her to join him, “I can’t believe it! We’re here!”

Arya gently knelt down next to him on the bedspread, leaned forward to kiss him when a shiny golden foil caught her eye on the pillow next to him, “Oh chocolates on the pillows! I love that.”

“Try living with Theon, rolos _ everywhere. _” he sat up and brought his lips to hers for a second. She hummed in approval and pulled away, moving to check out the bathroom, “I’ll be right back.” Arya sauntered into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, ruffling her hair a bit and wiping some of the mascara away from under her eyes.

She heard the tv switch on in the other room as Gendry called out to her, “Oh yes, Arya get in here there’s a high speed car chase on!” She shook her head and smiled at his excitedness. Finally after sneaking around for ages in Winterfell, they would have this getaway to spend time together with no interruptions. Arya took another look in the mirror and went to exit the bathroom.

On the cabinet outside the door she noticed two glasses and a jug of water, she stepped towards them and picked up the jug, gasping in horror as she noticed a red lipstick stain on the rim of one of the glasses. The sight of the grimy smudge sent her into a spiral, over the years she had developed a strong preference for cleanliness - some would say an obsession - and the unclean cups were too significant for her to ignore.

“We’re switching rooms” She stated clearly as she joined gendry in the bedroom, holding the dirty cup near his face.

“Oh dear god they gave us glasses!” he remarked sarcastically, his attention split half between her and the TV.

“They gave us glasses with lipstick on them, I mean if they didn’t change the glasses who knows what else they didn’t change!” she added and gave him a pleading look. He swung his legs round to the side of the bed where she stood and placed his hands on her waist comfortingly, “Oh come on I just want this weekend to be perfect. We can change rooms can’t we?” Arya asked again, stepping in between his legs and resting her empty hand on his shoulder.

“Okay, let’s do it now though because chopper five just lost its feed!”

,,,

Gendry stood by as Arya marched to the front desk and complained, the meek looking receptionist apologising profusely and finding them another room instantly. Which she also didn’t like, stating that they paid specifically for an ocean view and the beautiful garden below the large french windows was unacceptable. 

He began to grow restless as the poor bellboy lugged their bags between rooms, the other hotel guests staring as they moved across the expanse of the hotel’s five floors. When they finally settled in a room Arya was happy with, Gendry was exhausted. Not to mention the TV car chase which came to an abrupt end as the driver ran out of petrol and was arrested. 

“Okay, this one I like” she flopped down onto the bed next to him as he flicked through the TV channels lazily. 

“Nope, its over. This is regularly scheduled programming!” he huffed and set the remote down and turned to look at her. She sat up to meet his gaze and patted his arm lovingly, “Can we turn the TV off? Do we really want to spend the entire weekend like this?” she asked gently.

“Oh I’m sorry, am I getting in the way of all the room switching fun.” he snapped at her and immediately regretted it, the tiredness was getting to him. 

She pulled back in shock, “Don’t blame me for ruining tonight”

“Oh who should I blame? The nice bellman who had to drag our luggage to five different rooms?” he argued.

“Oh I don’t know, how about the idiot who thought he could drive from Riverrun to Dorne on half a tank of petrol?” she folded her arms over her chest in annoyance. 

Gendry rose from the bed,“Just forget it okay.” he mumbled and licked his lips anxiously. 

She stood also, her brows furrowed in annoyance, “No! We’re supposed to be spending a romantic weekend together, what is the matter with you?”

“I just want to watch some TV, relax _ mum!” _he blurted without thinking.

“What did you say?” She stepped backwards in shock, her eyes going wide.

Panic set in and Gendry’s palms went clammy, “I said jesus relax _ my love!” _ he sputtered, it was too late. Arya stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut.

,,,

Gendry sat in his lounge chair, swaying it side to side aimlessly. He was devastated, the weekend trip being cut short. Would Arya even want to continue whatever they had going on anymore? Theon walked through their front door, pulling him out of his thoughts, “Hey you’re back! How was the conference?”

“Awful, I fought with- my colleagues” he murmured, still swinging the chair around lightly. 

Theon sat at one of their barstools and gave him a questioning look, “Oh that hotel you stayed at called by the way, said someone left an eyelash curler in your room.” a sly smile growing on his lips.

“Yes that was mine...” Gendry choked, and abruptly planted his feet to the floor, stilling the chair.

“Because I figured you hooked up with some girl and she left it there?” His brows furrowed.

“Yes that would have made more sense...” he nodded, blushing profusely.

Theon stood from the counter and wandered towards his bedroom, stopping at his door and turning to face him again, “Okay, I don’t even feel like i know you anymore. So I’m going to ask you this one time. Were you or were you not on a gay cruise?”

,,,

Lounging on her sofa, Arya stared at the ceiling and huffed. Her trip away with Gendry was a complete disaster. The door to her apartment opened and clicked shut, she didn’t bother turning to see who it was, she tell by his footsteps.

“Hey” she muttered as Gendry came into her line of vision, hovering over her.

“I just came over to drop off… nothing,” he stepped backwards as she sat up, not meeting his gaze which was so deeply focused on her. “So that weekend was kind of shit huh?” he continued. 

Arya slumped against the floral cushion, “Yeah it was.”

He toyed with the fringing of the blanket draped over the back of the couch,“Well, I guess this is over”

Her head snapped up towards him, “What?”

“You know, you and me. It had to end some time” Arya felt her heart rate increase.

She paused for a second, “Why exactly?”

“Because… the weekend! We had a fight!” Gendry stood in front of her, his face contorted with confusion.

Arya sat up on her knees, gesturing him forward to wrap her arms around his neck, “Gendry that’s crazy. If you give up every time you have a fight with someone you’d never be with anyone longer than- ohhhh.” A wave of realisation washed over the pair, he had never been with anyone for longer than six months at most after all. 

A smile crept onto his lips, “So, this isn’t over?

Using his broad shoulders as leverage Arya leapt over the couch to stand with him in the kitchen, “You are so adorable! No, it was a fight. You deal with it and move on. It’s nothing to freak out about.”

Gendry wrapped his arms around her waist, lightly stroking the small of her back, “Really? Okay great!”

Arya cupped his face in her small hands, “Welcome to an adult relationship!” She leant in to kiss him when he pulled back, 

“We’re in a relationship?” he asked with a cheeky grin. 

“I’m afraid so.” She rolled her eyes, that warm feeling of _ him _rising through her body.

“Okay.”

,,,

Theon sat lazily in the floral armchair in the centre of Arya and Sansa’s apartment, rifling through a bag of popcorn. He was half watching the tv, which Sansa had flicked to the teleshopping channel when he wasn’t looking. From the couch next to him, Gendry grabbed the popcorn and threw a piece in the air, catching it in his mouth on the first go.

Smugly, he threw another one upwards but it missed his mouth completely, landing next to Arya at her kitchen table, where she was adjusting the new seasonal menu for the restaurant she worked at. Robb wandered into the apartment a few minutes later, dropped his bag onto the countertop and shook off his coat.

“Hey Arya, I heard you saw Jamie Lannister on your trip.” He started and sat down opposite her at the table. 

“Yeah he was waiting for an elevator” she replied casually and returned to the notes in front of her. Something in the back of his mind panged at this, but he shook it off and shrugged, taking the popcorn back from Gendry.

Arya stood from the table and stretched her arms out as she yawned. She came and sat on the sofa next to her sister, peering over her shoulder at the magazine was reading “Oh i’ve been meaning to ask you Sansa, can I borrow your eyelash curler? I think I lost mine.” 

After a second, the realisation set in and Theon’s eyes went wide: Arya and Gendry were seeing each other. He turned to his roommate whose face was twisted in discomfort, he pointed to Arya and gasped loudly, “No way?” 

Gendry quickly stood up and motioned for Arya to do the same, “Theon can I talk to you for a second?” he blurted and clutched at his arm to pull him out of the chair and into Arya’s bedroom. 

“Oh my god!” he shrieked as Gendry quickly covered his mouth and pinned him on the bed, letting go once he stilled and went quiet.

“Yes, okay Theon?” Gendry began after a second 

“You? And You?” he looked between the couple, trying to gage their reactions.

Arya piped up from the other side of her bed, “Yes, but you cannot tell anyone no one knows.”

Theon frantically looked back to Gendry, “How? When?”

“It happened in Eastwatch” he replied, glancing at the door.

“In Eastwatch?” Theon blurted loudly in shock.

Gendry clasped his hand over his mouth again “Shut up! The reason we didn’t tell anyone is because we didn’t want to make a big deal out of it” he hissed at him, letting go after a second.

“But it is a big deal! I have to tell someone…” Theon moved towards the door, but Gendry stopped him in his path and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him back to the bed. 

“No, you can’t” he threw him a glare, Theon turned his attention to Arya as she sat down next to him.

“Please we really don’t want to deal with telling everyone okay? Promise you won’t tell” she pleaded with him, a harsh contrast to her usual strong demeanor. 

“Alright. Fuck, this is unbelieveable, I mean its great but-” he sighed, pushing back his hair stuck to his forehead. 

Arya stood from the bed and stepped towards Gendry, “It is great isn’t it” pulling him down for a kiss and he wrapped his arms around her, their bodies melted together.

Theon turned away and scoffed, “Oh okay I don’t want to see that” 

,,,

Sat atop Gendry’s lap in his leather lounge chair, Arya ran her hands through his hair as she placed hot kisses to his neck and jaw, capturing his lips intermittently. The feeling of his arms wrapped around her waist as his hands cupped her ass sent a surge of heat to her core. Suddenly, the door to Gendry’s apartment swung open and Theon’s booming voice drew her out of her haze. 

“Hey hey- none of that. Not while you’re living under my roof!” He walked to the fridge and pulled out a lemonade.

“What are you talking about?” She huffed, leaving one hand in Gendry’s hair and the other on his thigh.

He took a swig from his drink and grumbled, “Just because I know about you two doesn’t mean I like looking at it.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at an audition for another hour?” Gendry retorted, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Well I’m sorry if I’m not a middle aged black woman!” He snapped and walked around the counter to where they were sitting. “Look, if I have to pretend I don’t know about you guys then you’re going to have to pretend there’s nothing to know about!”

Arya raised an eyebrow at Gendry and he nodded back, “Okay, sorry.” they replied in unison.

Theon raised his can in thanks and entered his bedroom, the door swinging shut behind him. Arya immediately brought Gendry in for another kiss, swiping her tongue across his bottom lip and tugging on it slightly. 

“I can hear that!” Theon called from his room, Gendry smiled against her lips.

She pulled back and ran a finger across his jaw, “Sansa’s at work…” 

“Let’s go” he patted her ass lightly and she hopped off his lap, grabbing his hand with a cheeky smile and walked them into her apartment.

,,,

Gendry flicked through the morning paper with Arya and Sansa at their kitchen table, Theon next to him shovelling waffles dripping with syrup into his mouth. On the sofa, Jon explained his post-divorce living arrangements to Robb who shifted about uncomfortably, “Oh what am I sitting on?”

Gendry turned and remarked, “Top of the world? Doc of the bay? That’s all I’ve got.” he shrugged and went back to pretending to read the sports section. 

Behind him, Robb continued to squirm and rifled under the cushion he was sat on, “Oh for fucks sake! Whose underwear are these?” he exclaimed, and threw a pair of boxers across the room which Gendry recognised before they even landed right at Sansa’s feet; they were his. 

She grabbed the wooden spoon next to her plate and swept up the pants, _ his pants _, stood from the table and waved them around like an odd flag, “Alright! Whose are they, own up?”

Jon raised his hands in surrender, “Not mine!”

“Theon’s! They have to be Theon’s.” Gendry stammered, pointing dramatically to his roommate. 

Sansa whipped her head in Theon’s direction, “Well, why are they here?”

Gendry felt his heart race, he shot him a pleading look as he struggled to find his words.

“I don’t know... I’m Theon and I’m disgusting, I take off my underwear in other people’s apartments.” he stammered

“Well get them out of here, what’s wrong with you?” Sansa flung the underwear into his lap and he grimaced at the contact. 

Theon moved towards the door and glared at him, “Gendry, a word please?”

Without a word he put down the paper and the pair made their way to their apartment.

The door clicked shut and Theon threw his hands up in defeat, still clutching Gendry’s underwear, “That’s it! I’m tired of covering for you two, this has got to stop.” He gagged and chucked the pants in his direction, Gendry swept them up from the floor and tucked them into his back pocket. 

He struggled to find the words to explain and was saved by Arya rushing into the apartment, “Oh thank you Theon, thank you so much!” she remarked, making her way to Gendry’s side where he instinctively placed his hand at the small of her back.

“No! You’re not welcome. I hate this, you keep embarrassing me!” he exclaimed, “Yesterday Sansa found your razor in our bathroom I didn’t know what to say so I said it was mine and that I was playing a women in a play! and now…” he lifted his foot up onto the arm chair and pulled up his left trouser leg, revealing his hairless calf. Gendry stood speechless as Arya stepped forward and felt his ankle, quickly making her way back to stand by him.

“All this lying has been hard on us too!” he started, trying to reason with him.

“Well I bet the sex makes it easier?” Theon snapped, raising an eyebrow.

Gendry turned to Arya and they nodded, “Yeah it does…”

“We will try to be more careful. It’s just that, this is going really well so far and we want it to stay like that” she continued for him, looping her arm into his and leaning her head on his shoulder.

“And we’re both so bad at relationships,” Gendry insisted, “please help us.”

“Alright but- you do it with me once?” Theon took a step towards them and took one look at Arya’s disgusted face as Gendry squared his shoulders, backing down immediately,“Didn’t think so, worth a shot”

,,,

Sauntering through the doors of the coffee shop, Arya spotted Gendry alone at their usual sofa and plopped down beside him, clutching a polaroid she had taken not 30 minutes ago in her bedroom, 

His eyes lit up when he noticed her arrival, “Hey!” he gushed, giving her hand a small squeeze.

Arya casually crossed her legs, her skirt hitching up her thigh a little, “I thought I’d give you a little bit of a preview for tonight.” she looked around the almost empty cafe and placed the picture in his lap, relishing in the gasp that followed as he looked down.

“Oh my- you’re naked in this!” he smiled wide, his cheeks flushed as he crouched over slightly to cover the image of her bare chest. 

“I know!” she chuckled to herself. The doors of the coffee house opened again and Jon stumbled through carrying a bundle of candyfloss, “Put it away we’ve got company” she whispered to Gendry, who tucked the picture into his bag just as Jon fell into the armchair next to them.

“Jon?” he called, waving his hand to grab his attention. Arya watched as her friend placed pieces of candy-floss onto his tongue in a trance like state.

“Hey Gendry! Arya?” He looked oddly surprised to see her.

She smiled sweetly and gave him an awkward thumbs up, “What’s up with you?

“I'm great! I saw a psychiatrist at work today.” he mumbled.

Her brows furrowed in confusion, “Why?” 

“On account of my rage.” he replied nonchalantly.

Gendry remarked, “Which if I may say right now is _ out of control _.”

“He gave me a pill for it.” Jon added, swiping more candy floss into his mouth with his tongue.

“A pill?” She looked him up and down, noting that both of his laces were undone.

“Yep! When the man told me I have to take a leave of absence because I yelled at my boss, I started to get worked up again,” he rolled his eyes dramatically, “so he offered me a tranquiliser and I thought it was a good idea... so I took it.” 

“Wait. They’re making you take time off work, aren’t you mad about that?” Arya questioned.

“I dunno, but I definitely don't care about my divorce anymore.” he smiled goofily and took a large bite out of his food. 

,,, 

Gendry was bored out of his mind, he’d been throwing a tennis ball in between his hands for around twenty minutes when Theon burst through the door to their apartment, doubling over with laughter. He didn’t bother to turn around in his chair and face him and gave him a simple, “Hey” as the ball left his hand once more.

His roommate’s chuckling soon stopped and turned into a gasp, followed by a thud and a shriek from Sansa in the hallway. Gendry turned around quickly to question the noise, instantly noticing the polaroid picture in Theon’s hand and a bucket of chicken laying toppled over on the floor. 

“Oh my god that’s Arya!” she yelled in disgust, covering her mouth with her palm in shock.

“No- no Sansa wait!” Theon stuttered, gesturing to her with the picture of Arya posing with her tits on full show.

“You get away from me you sick bastard!” she ran into her apartment, Theon and Gendry right on her tail. 

Robb sat with Arya on the couch, their faces contorted with confusion. 

“What’s going on?” she asked, meeting Gendry’s eye. He shook his head at her and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Theon has a naked picture of Arya!” Sansa exclaimed, grabbing the picture out of Theon’s hand and thrusting it towards her siblings. “He pervs on us and he takes pictures and then he eats chicken and he looks at them!” 

Arya put her head in her hands, Gendry’s heart panged as she groaned, “Oh no...”

“Dude, that’s my sister!” Robb yelled and shielded his eyes as Sansa continued to wave the picture until Arya snatched it out of her hands and began to pace around the room.

“Okay let’s calm down and let Theon explain to us why he’s such a massive pervert” she huffed. 

Theon threw his hands up in defence, “No! I am not a pervert okay, I just -” he looked back at him with panic in his eyes.

Gendry stepped forward and patted him on the back, “Alright look, I think I can explain this”

“Thank you!” he cried.

“The truth is… Theon is a sex addict.” he pushed him towards the sofa and Arya stopped pacing as she reached his side.

“No I’m not!” he argued, but Robb and Sansa were already overcome with the idea.

Arya stepped towards him and rubbed his arm, “Yes you are, it’s okay! How else would you explain the picture?”

“With the truth!” Theon shot back.

“Which is what exactly?” Sansa asked impatiently.

Gendry watched an idea pop into his roommate’s head, and couldn’t find the words to stop him from verbalising it before he declared, “I... slept with Arya!”

“Well, let’s see what everybody thinks of that!” Gendry stated in the chaos.

Robb stood from the couch and wandered towards Theon, his jaw locked into place, “You slept with my sister?”

“Yes… but it just happened once, in Eastwatch.” he cowered. Gendry waited for Robb to reply or do _ something _, but instead he just pulled a chair out from the dining table and sat down.

“Arya, is this true?” asked Sansa, with a pained expression.

“Of course it is! How else would you explain all the weird stuff that’s been going on?” Theon chimed in, once again working his way out of a situation.

Arya looked at him and then to the floor, “Yes it’s true.” she mumbled, anxiously twisting a piece of her around her fingers.

“Okay but if it only happened one time how come we found your underwear in our apartment the other day?” Sansa continued and Gendry cursed inwardly.

“That was the underwear I was wearing that night, right Arya?” he gave her a hard pat on the back, her petite frame jolted.

She took a deep breath, “I guess I wanted to keep it as a souvenir.”

“Fucking hell Arya!” Robb’s face twisted in repulsion. 

Gendry stepped closer to Theon’s side and grabbed at his arm, “Are you sure you’re not just a sex addict?”

“No! If anyone is it’s Arya! She’s been trying to get me back in the sack since Eastwatch!” he gestured to where she stood, leaned against the sofa. 

“So that’s why she gave you a naked picture of herself?” Sansa added.

“That makes sense, Arya?” he replied, directing the conversation back to her.

Through gritted teeth she explained, “I guess I tried to- entice Theon”

“But sadly i could not be enticed” he placed his hands on his hips and sighed. Gendry felt a sudden urge to smack him wash through his body.

“Unbelievable, I mean you really kept his underwear? Why would you do that?” Robb started again, still clearly in shock. 

“I’m Arya… I’m disgusting. I stalk guys and keep their underpants.” Arya shuddered and moved away to sit on her sofa, Gendry leant on the back of it and stroked her cheek subtly with his thumb.

Theon gave a satisfied huff, “Well, I think we’ve all learned something about who’s disgusting and who’s not, eh?” he opened the door to the girl’s apartment wide and gestured to the array of chicken strewn across his own kitchen floor which Gendry had cleaned some hours earlier in his boredom.

“Now, I’m going to get back to my bucket, I’m only eating the skins so the meat is up for grabs.” Gendry shook his head and Arya leant her cheek against his palm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy axg week! Today's prompt "i'll be there" inspired this whole fic!
> 
> All feedback is welcome :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is just me posting for axg week early because I got too excited, based on the day 6 prompt 'I'll be there'.
> 
> All feedback is welcome :)


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